....the neverending walk

So then it began. the walking. The painkillers and various other varieties of medication was keeping the pain at bay temporarily but if he didnt dislodge whatever was blocking his gut the colic would just re-occur in 4 hours time. So naturally the only way to keep his innards moving was for his outers to do the same. I dont think I've ever walked so far in my life, although considering my aversion to exercise thats not particularly impressive. Round and round the sand school we went, fuelled only by a Pizza Hut special delivered by a certain special someone. Despite his complete aversion to horses and an important golf competition the following day my beloved stayed with me all night, albeit sat in the car, from which I could see the steam of disapproval rising! It was immediately apparent that I was to be gaining little sleep that night and so on we paced until it became obvious Pilgrim was propping me up as opposed to vice versa, so we stopped. I sat on my deckchair with a throw and a huge dinosaur head hanging over me, and slept for half an hour or so. Although it was obvious he was exhausted from the pain and walking, I have never felt closer to anything before or since than having that huge head stood right over me, resting his lip and snoring gently in my lap. He could have stepped forward and knocked my chair over or worse stood on me (he's not that great with personal space) but he didnt. Whether you believe in animals ability for emotion or not, I know without a doubt that he was glad of my company that night. Sadly, the calm wasn't to last and around midnight I had to drag my vet out of bed to drive an hour and administer more pain killers. I felt faintly embarrassed and ever so sorry for him. That was until I received the bill a week later obviously! By my calculations he costs more per minute than Johnathan Ross pre 'Sachsgate'. More walking was prescribed and off we went again. It was around 2:30 in the morning when it was time for another rest on my part, as semi-supporting 850kilos whilst walking up and down a slope on sand is more than a match for anyone. Pilgrim went down quite quickly and seemed to sleep in a relatively comfortable position so I joined him in slumber.

It was a lovely wake up call in that the following day was an absolute scorcher, so it was one of those rare occasions where you wake up with the warm sun on your face and the light is so lovely it warms your bones. Which quickly rose to an uncomfortable flush when the walking resumed. Around the 53rd lap Pilgrim stopped dead, proceeding to lift his tail and produce the loudest, longest expulsion of air I have ever heard. I wouldnt doubt it could blow the titanic up from its murky depths. Shortly after that he began to take a keen interest in the left over contents of the Pizza Hut box, and I felt it safe to assume he was over the worst of it. As the world woke up and he received various guests he transformed from a meek, pathetic looking specimen to something akin to a polish pickpocket. He decided he was ravenous and promptly wolfed a half haynet (his maximum ration on strict instructions) in a record 4 minutes. He spent the rest of the unseasonably hot day dozing under a tree while the mortals in his life flinched at every groan and move he made. He had a mild re-occurence of the colic a week or two later and it was decided he more than likely had worm damage from unsuitable pasture at an early age. 'The mother' then burst into action and scoured the net for a suitable product to aide the delicate and precise digestion of a horse that weighed the best part of a ton. A niche market if ever there was one! Thankfully she found a brilliant product and aside from a slight re-occurence when he over-indulged on rotten apples (we were entirely unsympathetic as he broke through 2 fences to get at them) it appears to have kept any further attacks at bay. Speaking of bays, the star of the show has been conspicuous by his absence in recent posts but never fear; he knows how to create a scene should he have slipped out of the limelight so he shall re-appear shortly!